Ushuaia

I arrived in Ushuaia jet-lagged & keen to find the hotel. I had arranged with Hostal Malvinas (where I would be staying overnight) for a taxi to pick me up at the airport. I exited Baggage Reclaim with luggage in tow to find a placard with my name on it ready & waiting.

As I mentioned in the Packing List post, I had had a hard time finding Argentine currency before leaving the UK. I had taken some US dollars as backup, because I had read that some shops would accept those instead of pesos. Fortunately, there was an ATM in Ushuaia Airport. It had a sliding door in front of it, which opened when you swiped your bank card. It did charge me the equivalent of £1.50 to take cash out, but some UK ATMs will charge you more than that, so I didn’t mind too much.

The taxi driver took me straight to Hostal Malvinas; a cheerful & welcoming hotel about 400 meters from the port. The staff there were lovely and couldn’t have been more friendly. The breakfast was included, as was the Wi-Fi. I settled down for a quick nap…but found myself waking bright and early the next morning!

After breakfast, I checked out & hauled my luggage down to the port. Unfortunately, the baggage drop for Oceanwide Expeditions was not at the port, but was 400 meters east, so off I went, luggage in tow. The drop was quick and efficient, and I was told to report back at the port at 4pm with my passport and boarding pass. It was only 9.30am, so I most certainly had some time to kill.

I headed back to the port because the Tourism Office was right next to the departure building. I had read that the Tourism Office had a special passport stamp for Ushuaia, if you asked for it. They also had toilets, seats, vending machines and an electronic charging station packed into their building (on top of all the proper tourist information stuff!), so it was a bit of a hub for people waiting to board. You had to fight a bit if you wanted to charge your phone, as people tended to set up camp whilst they were waiting for their tour or ship.

After getting my bearings, I went for a walk alongside the port and then headed further into the town itself. Ushuaia main street is not long – and to start with, it looks impossible to spend more than an hour there. However, once you start meandering along the streets and wondering through the shops, you’ll find that time can pass quite quickly. Most of Ushuaia’s shops are for souvenirs or active-wear – I managed to get all of my tourist shopping done before even setting foot on the ship! I also café-hopped to pass some of the time too. I would recommend trying a Submarino – an Argentinian specialty: hot frothy milk with a large stick of chocolate for you to stir in yourself.

I found that every shop offered for payment to be made in pesos or dollars – some even officered Euros. The only thing a few said was that pesos would be given if any change was needed. Every shop and cafe I went to accepted card payments too. 

With regards to souvenir shopping, I would recommend shopping around – especially if you have some time to kill. Kids’ t-shirts, for example ranged from 350 pesos to 800 pesos, depending on which shop I was in (that’s about £5 – £12.50). There are a couple of places that sell slightly more unique items, but you have to look a little closer to find them. There was a local artist selling handmade ceramic and wooden penguins from a stall inside …which had far more charm than some of the things in the general souvenir shops.

After visiting a fair few cafes along the Ushuaia main street, I was surprised – and yet not surprised – to see this:

Because of course there is. I was more surprised that there wasn’t a McDonald’s.

Eventually, 4pm arrived, so I headed back to the Tourism Office to send last minute goodbyes before heading off into unknown waters.